Pfizer will buy NextWave Pharma for up to $700M

(AP)—Pfizer said Monday it will buy NextWave Pharmaceuticals Inc., a company that makes a liquid attention deficit hyperactivity disorder drug, in a deal worth as much as $700 million.

The Food and Drug Administration approved NextWave's drug Quillivant XR in September, and the once-per-day drug is expected to be in pharmacies in January.

Pfizer made a $20 million option payment to Cupertino, California-based NextWave in the second quarter to establish a merger agreement. The company will pay $255 million when the deal closes, and agreed to pay NextWave another $425 million based on sales milestones.

Pfizer said about 9.5 percent of children have received a diagnosis of ADHD at some point, and around 4 percent of adults have the condition.

NextWave is also developing extended release chewable tablets using the same drug. It has an advanced-stage study of the tablets in process, and aims to submit the product for approval next year.

Pfizer expects the deal to close during the fourth quarter, subject to regulatory approval.

A leading association for U.S. pharmacists adopted a policy Monday that discourages its members from providing drugs for use in lethal injections—a move that could make carrying out such executions even harder for states ...

New estimates suggest that 20 to 30 percent of opioid analgesic drugs prescribed for chronic pain are misused, while the rate of opioid addiction is approximately 10 percent, reports a study in the April issue of Pain, the of ...

The nation's largest health insurer, UnitedHealth, will muscle up for its fight against rising prescription drug costs by spending more than $12 billion to buy pharmacy benefits manager Catamaran Corp.